A Lesson in Expression
by KooKoo 4 Kaiba
Summary: While Master Splinter is teaching a lesson to his young sons, Michelangelo lets his creative juices flow.


As you can see, I'm extremely bored. So bored, in fact, that I wrote a pointless story. Take a look. By the way, I imagined the turtles to be about eight years old in this story. Have fun!

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT.

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Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo all rushed to their seats at the dining table as quickly as they could. It was nearly half-past-two, which meant it was almost time for their lesson that day. When it came to learning, Master Splinter had very strict rules, both in martial arts and academics. He did not allow any roughhousing, mouthing off, or distractions during his lessons. Most importantly, though, he kept a stringent schedule. When each lesson started, his sons were not allowed to be even the slightest bit late, lest they suffer the harsh consequences. Master Splinter did not think that he was being unreasonable, though. After all, in a house with four young boys, he had to find _some_ way to keep order.

While Master Splinter taught _ninjutsu_ to his sons every day of the week, he taught a different academic subject for each day about two hours or so after martial arts practice. For instance, Tuesdays were for history and a bit of goegraphy, Thursdays for science, and Mondays for math – he might as well get that dreaded subject out of the way first. To end the week on a high note, he liked to include art in addition to their overall review lesson on Friday. Today, however, was a Wednesday, which meant that the turtles would be having a language lesson. As they took their self-assigned places at the table, the four brothers discussed what they might be practicing that day.

"What do you think we'll be doing today, Donnie?" asked Mikey, eagerly bouncing up and down in his seat. "Think Master Splinter will read us a story? Maybe he'll tell us the one with the princess who gets saved from the evil dragon by the handsome prince! Oh! Even better: he might let us write our _own_ stories! I know exactly what I'll write mine about. I'll write about Superman and how he saves the world from-"

"Oh, shut it already," interrupted Raph, who was already tiring of his brother's incessant chattering. "I ain't doin' nothin' that stupid."

"You used a double negative, Raph," Don corrected. "You probably meant to say, 'I'm not doing anything that stupid.'"

"I know what I meant to say!" Raph exclaimed, glaring at his brother.

"Cool it, Raph," Leo urged, trying to calm his brother down. "We're probably just gonna learn some more of that grammar stuff."

"I hope we get to learn some interesting new vocabulary," Don thought out loud.

So lost in their conversation, they didn't even notice the clock strike two thirty. Exactly on time as usual, Master Splinter walked into the room, smiling as he listened to his sons' petty arguments. "Good afternoon, my sons. I trust that you are well-rested after this morning's training session?"

The four turtles immediately stopped chatting with one another and turned to face their master. "_Hai_, _Sensei_," they replied.

"So what are we doing today, _Sensei?_" asked Michelangelo, unable to contain his curiosity. "Reading stories? Learning new words? Doing those weird grammar drawings – the dia-thingies?"

Master Splinter's grin widened. "None of those, my son. Today we will learn about Japanese _haiku_," he informed them.

Mikey's facial features twisted up into a confused expression. "Hai-who?" he parroted.

"_Haiku_."

"What's that?"

"That is what I shall show you today, Michelangelo, if you will allow me." After taking his seat at the head of the table, Master Splinter set down the papers he had been carrying. He had found a few old schoolbooks on some of his excursions to the surface. While they were not in the best shape and had all sorts of bad handwriting scrawled across the pages, they were good enough for him and his sons, who were not used to having brand-new things anyway. "As I said earlier, today we shall be learning about _haiku_. _Haiku_ is a form of Japanese poetry with specific rules. There are three lines in a _haiku_; the first line has five syllables, the second one has seven, and the last one has five, just like the first. Do you understand?"

"I think so," said Leo, nodding along with his brothers.

"Good. _Haiku_ also usually portray some sort of emotion by using examples found in life. However, you must limit yourself to only a few choice words in order to achieve this. Today, I want you all to write a _haiku_."

Raph groaned. "We have to write _poetry_? Can you get any more lame?" After receiving a warning glance from Master Splinter, Raph amended his previous statement by saying, "Uh, I mean, wow! _Haiku_...super cool." There was not much enthusiasm in his voice, but Master Splinter knew that he would not get anything better from his most headstrong child.

"_I_ think it sounds fun!" exclaimed Mikey, excitedly clapping his hands together. "I wanna start right now!"

Master Splinter passed out pencils and sheets of blank paper to his children. "Think very hard on this, my sons. I am eager to read what you come up with."

Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello immediately started to brainstorm, tapping the tops of their pencils against their heads and drumming their fingertips on the table. Michelangelo, however, simply snatched up his pencil and started writing. He didn't even stop to think about the words that flowed from the utensil in his hand, which moved very quickly across the paper.

Master Splinter watched him curiously. His youngest had always possessed a talent for writing, but the rat could not fathom how he was able come up with something so quickly. He only hoped that Michelangelo's creation would make sense.

"Done!" Mikey announced after only a few short moments as he slammed his pencil back down on the table.

"Are you sure, my son? Do you not need more time to think things through?" Master Splinter asked.

"Nope! All done."

"Very well." Master Splinter took the piece of paper from his youngest child and placed it in front of himself. There, in scrawled, childish writing, were the following words:

"_Yum! Spearmint toothpaste._

_Minty freshness in a tube._

_Raphie sure needs some!"_

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Yeah...is it obvious that I'm bored yet? XD Anyway, thanks for reading! I know that it was incredibly short, but I hope it was decent enough. Here's to wishing that you're not bored too!


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